


In The Near Future

by missjeonghanista



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Based on Pinwheel, Everyone's POV, Gen, Multiverse, lots of emotions, platonic vocal unit, verrrry lightly based on pinwheel mv
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-27
Updated: 2019-02-27
Packaged: 2019-11-06 10:13:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17937875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missjeonghanista/pseuds/missjeonghanista
Summary: Five boys who have been tossed from world to world, find themselves with a barely working family in the midst of all that. But they couldn't stay.So they made a promise.“So. We’ll meet again here in what? 3 years?”“29 months. 2 years and 5 months from now.”akathe author's take on the masterpiece that is pinwheel mv,





	In The Near Future

 “Han!” Joshua called and Jeonghan opened his eyes in surprise.

“…Shua?” Joshua chuckled and pulled him up from his bed.

“What are you doing? It’s D-Day! We’re finally doing it!” Shua yelled into his ears, those eyes twinkling like Christmas lights as a smile spread widely on his face.

“Ughh….let me sleep some more.”Jeonghan groaned, pulling his blanket up to cover the onslaught of morning rays from the curtains Shua pulled back,

“No. Wake up! We can’t be late! The kids are waiting. You…remember, right?” Shua asked hopefully, though those pretty almond eyes were hesitant.

From before his covers, Han nodded his head.

“Good! Come on! Put on this white sweater. It looks good on you.” Jeonghan groaned again, as Shua sat on the edge of his bed, persistent enough to try and pull Han out of bed.

Well, Jeonghan thought, he had the right to be stubborn.

If anyone could do it, it was Shua and Jeonghan was lying anyway.

His heart was drumming too hard to sleep more.

* * *

 

“You’re sure it’s alright?” Dokyeom asked hesitantly, as he watched around the court. Jihoon shrugged as he poured more superglue to the floor of the court.

“It’s your idea, Kyeom.” Shua reminded. Dokyeom grinned and heaved out a huge breath.

“I just…want us to come back here.” He said under his breath.

Seungkwan looked at him with an eyebrow cocked up and Kyeom quickly went to his side. With Jeonghan and Joshua on the other side of the instrument, they lifted it up.

“Jja! There, done.” Seungkwan said once they’ve let go the wooden small piano on top of the superglue.

“So. We’ll meet again here in what? 3 years?” Jihoon asked, his eyes not leaving the piano.

“29 months. 2 years and 5 months from now.” Jeonghan confirmed and Shua nodded his head.

“So….who’ll stay here?” Jihoon asked.

Jeonghan and Joshua shared a look.

The two of them were the only ones who could yet, control their movement, in and out of universes. The other three were too young, they hadn’t been through enough switches. So Jeonghan nodded his head and announced,

“I will. Stay here. I’ll do it. After all, I need to practice playing Jihoon’s song on this piano.” He chuckled. Jihoon’s gaze when he looked at the younger man was hard and he knew JIhoon was tryin to hide his feelings.

When they meet again, Han will tell him he always failed when he do that. He’s an open book, and Jeonghan was an intent reader.

“Alright then. The next switch is in….an hour. I’ll need to pack my stuff.” Jihoon hesitated.

“Me too.” Dokyeom replied as Seungkwan nodded his head.

“I should stay with you, probably.” Joshua suddenly piped up, looking up at Jeonghan with worry.

“Yah, we discussed this. You need to go with Seungkwannie. Make sure nothing bad happens.” Jeonghan said as he ruffled Seungkwan’s hair. The boy pouted but the feeling of loss when Jeonghan pulled back his hand was mutual.

“Hyung, you’re sure we can come back here, right? What if we got stuck somewhere else, or something bad happens? I don’t…” _I don’t want to go._

“Lee Dokyeom, we’ll meet here again in 2 years when the three of you can go to any universe you want. Then, we’ll be together, through every switch. You don’t need to worry.” Joshua reassured, even though Jeonghan could see through that brave façade.

“I’ll…go first. I guess this is goodbye. Fo--for now.” Jihoon spoke up.

_He’s nervous._

Jeonghan would’ve been too. The kid had been travelling through universes alone. Adapting to a new world alone, living in that world for 14 months and 15 days alone before going to a completely new world, alone. Jeonghan had found Jihoon on the brink of death when he got beaten by a gang, intentionally.

“What’s the point of living like this? It’s only ‘hi’s and byes. I want to live a normal life.” Jihoon had said begrudgingly.

Jeonghan took him under his wings, put his feet back on the ground and lit up the fire of music in him. The world might change drastically, suddenly, scarily but they wouldn’t change. Jihoon found comfort in realising music would always be there too. He had only been through 3 switches. By the time he went through 5, he’ll be able to choose whether to stay in the world or go to another of his choosing.

Jihoon was not nervous because of the switch. He was nervous because he was leaving the only people he had ever considered family. If he left all this behind, he might never find another. A little over fourteen months are way too short to build a family, and then leave them alone. It was cruel and cold.

“I’ll come back here after the next switch. You kiddos better make sure you get your asses here by time.” Jihoon said to Seungkwan and Dokyeom, who frowned and instantly started complaining.

Seungkwan and Dokyeom had been through 2 switches. Throughout those switches, they never knew what was happening. They had never met anyone like them, which was why they were scared of everything whenever they came into a different world. Joshua had found them in mental institutes, where they were retained because of their ‘mental problems’.

They were like little puppies, always charging head-first into anything. They were not doing that now. Just like Jihoon, they were scared too. Two more switches before they’ll be able to come back here.

Before they’ll be able to see each other again.

With bitter smiles and repeats of their promise, the three youngsters began walking back to their own places, preparing themselves for the both painless and painful switches. Painless because the switch just felt like a dreamless sleep. Painful that they would leave each other, going to a new world with zero knowledge or reassurance that they’d be fine. They had too, though. They promised.

Joshua stayed behind, watched as Jeonghan waved goodbyes to the other three. Jeonghan could feel the sorrowful gaze of Shua’s as if it stemmed from his own sadness.

“I’ll be fine.” Jeonghan reassured with a light grin.

Joshua pulled him into a hug, just like they did with the younger ones. This was a bit more desperate, though. They’d been together for years, both this world and the worlds before. Joshua was the closest person to him.

“You have the phone, right? Let me know everything that happens to you and Seungkwan.” Jeonghan reminded and Shua nodded his head.

“Don’t do that. Don’t keep on worrying about things that won’t happen. We’ll meet again. I’ll make sure of that.” Jeonghan pressed.

“Bye, Yoon Jeonghan.” Joshua finally said.

“Bye.” Jeonghan replied with a smile, a smile so bright, Shua was sure he couldn’t have forget about it.

* * *

 

_**14 months and 14 days later.** _

“Tomorrow’s the switch.” Shua said into the phone. Han hummed.

“Jihoon’s coming tomorrow.” Shua continued when Jeonghan didn’t say anything.

“I know, our music genius. I hope he’ll keep me entertained while waiting for the next switch. I’m getting bored being here.” _Alone._

“Are my stories of Seungkwan’s crazy adventures here aren’t enough?” Shua asked and Jeonghan laughed loudly.

“I’m glad that we have these phones.” Jeonghan suddenly said and Joshua hummed his agreement.

“Who was it that found the phones again?” Joshua asked cheekily and Jeonghan rolled his eyes.

“Okay, I’m sorry I didn’t want to believe a myth about a couple of phones that can connect from different universes and goes on a clueless quest on finding them.” Joshua laughed, that pretty laughter music to Jeonghan’s ears, an infectious virus that made a grin spread on his face.

“It’s getting late here.”

“Here too.”

“Bye, Han. See you again in 14 months and 15 days.”

“Goodnight. Take care of Seungkwan. See you again in 14 months and 15 days.”

Jeonghan put down the receiver back to its place on the black phone and quickly settled in to sleep.

By this time tomorrow, he would’ve had Jihoon sleeping on that bed at the other end of the room he had impulsively bought.

By this time tomorrow, he wouldn’t be totally alone.

* * *

_But fate as always, finds a way to make their road to each other…harder._

* * *

 

Jihoon opened his eyes. The fifth switch. The switch where he could go back to Jeonghan. Joshua and Jeonghan had told the three of them what to expect when they could choose the worlds they wanted to go on the fifth switch. The many doors and windows that opened up to different worlds.

He hadn’t expected it to be this many.

He just had to find that one door where Jeonghan hyung was in. Jihoon took out his compass. The only thing he risked his life for during his time in this world. The compass would lead him to where he wanted to be. Right now, it would lead him to Jeonghan.

But Jihoon paused and watched, as other people, those who hadn’t went through 4 switches, floating, in their deep sleep, through the doors. There were only a handful of them, and he could easily spot Seungkwan and Dokyeom, Joshua following behind Seungkwan a few paces behind, not looking anywhere but to his front. For a second there, his heart jumped to wave at them. Joshua was not looking at him, and before long, Seungkwan disappeared into a serenity-coloured door.

Jihoon should hurry too. The man who handed him the compass said to not lounge around when he chose where to go, because the switch was fast and when it was done, the doors were sealed. He could be stuck in this dark space for a long, long time if he didn’t go anywhere.

The compass led him to a golden coloured door and he was about to enter when suddenly, he saw a boy, stepping through a white door on his left. The boy looked shocked, truly shaken as his eyes wandered widely. He had just stepped through a door.

From the other side.

That was when everything turned to hell. The doors, opened and the windows, shining light from the worlds they held inside, suddenly slammed shut one by one. The few people who hadn’t crossed through were running in panic towards the doors that were still opened. He thought he saw Joshua but it couldn’t be, he must’ve went through that door with Seungkwan. He had to.

Another door closed with a slam startled him from his train of thought.

Jihoon tried to force the golden door open, but it stayed stubbornly shut and his heart thundered as he realised he was losing time. He couldn’t risk being here any longer. So he ran towards that red door on the far end that was swinging close slowly, and he clutched the compass in his hand. He would find them in the next switch.

For now, he needed to save himself first.

* * *

 

**His fourth world.**

Something was different. Dokyeom realised that even before he opened his eyes. He could feel something missing; something important. He opened his eyes and looked around his room. Ah. He’s a student in this life, huh. The charts that was pinned on the board, the reference and practice books lining the bookshelf on his left. The book laid open where he had slept had dots of scarlet red; blood from a nosebleed.

“Our Dokyeom, are you doing well?” He heard a sugary voice asked from beyond his bedroom door.

“Yes. Please don’t disturb me for a while.” A yes was shouted back in response and Dokyeom quickly locked his door. He needed to get his orientation first about this world.

“Darling, something is wrong with Kyeommie.” The mother said to the father.

“Why? What did he do?”

“He said please.” He furrowed his eyebrows.

“Maybe it’s just stress. He has the mid-terms coming soon.”

“I sure hope so.” The mother replied, sighing deeply.

Dokyeom looked around the room. Enough happy family photos to know it was a good household but he was crazily intelligent, in this world. If the amount of trophies and certificates on display was any indication. Instinctively, he traced the ring on his pinky finger. Another fourteen and a half months until the promise. The promise that they made in the middle of the court…

The promise….?

He couldn’t remember what the promise was.

14 months and 14 days to the next switch.

His fifth switch.

But what was he supposed to do then?

* * *

 

Jihoon opened his eyes in a panic. He opened his hand and sighed in relief. The compass was there. That was alright then. Everything was fine. He could just find them in the next switch. Okay.

_Okay._

Jihoon held the compass against his chest. But something was missing. It didn’t spin. He looked at the compass again. Before the switch, the compass needle spun continuously, because where Jihoon wanted to be was nowhere in that world. It was another world. The compass couldn’t show him the way, so it spun uncontrollably.

So why was it stopping now?

Jihoon moved the compass around, and the needle fell towards the direction of the gravity, like a broken normal compass. In desperation, Jihoon knocked the compass against his hand but nothing happened.

“No, no, no! No!” Jihoon yelled and suddenly maids began to burst into his bedroom.

“Young master, what is wrong?!” One of them asked earnestly.

“Go away!” The maids went away reluctantly, each with a worried look etched on their faces.

“What’s wrong with the young master?” One of the younger maids asked out loud in worry.

“I don’t know.” The head maid answered honestly.

She was the closest to the closed bedroom door, and for a second, she thought she heard a sob.

Then, she heard glass shattering and a loud shout. Quickly, she ushered the other maids away from the bedroom, pushing them away until they reluctantly went down the stairs.

She was the last person to leave the hallway, and perhaps the only one who managed to catch the loud thud escaping that lone bedroom on the far end of the corridor. She turned around and walked briskly towards the room.

The young master must’ve been so frustrated about whatever it was that woke him up in the middle of the night. She’ll get yelled, she was sure. But she was the young master’s legs, since he lost use of his own.

* * *

 

**He ran.**

Jeonghan ran to the piano glued onto the abandoned court. Jihoon was coming. He promised Jihoon he’ll play his song on the morning when they would meet. He had practised a lot. With clear eyes and his shoulders relaxed, Jeonghan pressed the notes on the piano.

The sound was clear and crisp against the morning air and dew, and he smiled as he mouthed the lyrics to himself. Jihoon had wanted to call the song Future and Seungkwan suggested Pinwheel because no matter how much the wind blew, pinwheels didn’t break. They just…flowed with the breeze.

Just like how they wouldn’t fall apart no matter what they went through in the worlds.

Jeonghan, Joshua, Jihoon, Dokyeom, Seungkwan.

He finished the song and still no sign of Jihoon.

Jeonghan was impatient, so he roamed around the court, trying to find some clue, at least a sliver of hope that Jihoon had by the very least, found his way into this world.

The sun hid behind clouds as Jeonghan waited hopefully.

Then, the sun shone, bright and screaming.

The sun stood above his head. And then, slowly slid to his left. Before long, the sun had hid itself behind the roof of a moss green coloured house at the left side of the court.

Still, no sign of Jihoon.

Jeonghan went home because he had left a note on the piano for Jihoon. He’s smart, he’ll be able to find Han’s house. Hopefully.

He reached for the phone on his left. He need to talk to Shua. Maybe something would come to light after their conversation. His hands traced blindly on the side table for the phone. It took quite a moment for him to start realising something was wrong. Jeonghan opened his tired eyes in shock and scrambled to his feet at once.

The phone. The phone was _gone_.

* * *

 

Seungkwan felt pain before he could open his eyes. When he did, the room was blurry and the whizzing of machines made him frown. His throat was raspy and when he gulped, it felt like sandpaper in his throat. He moved his hand and it brushed against someone else’s.

“Kwan?” The person whispered softly, as if it might shocked him too much. He opened his eyes a little more, despite the glaring lights making him squint.

“Kwannie! Kwan, you’re awake!” More yells and shouts.

White coats fluttered in, flashlight was torched on his eyes and a smooth voice asked his name.

“Seungkwan.” He replied throatily.

“We’ll have to do more check-ups later but for now, we’ll let him rest. Please don’t startle him too much, it’s better if he doesn’t meet too many people in these few days.”

“Okay, doctor. We’ll do just that.” The lady said in between sobs and the doctor held her hand warmly.

“He’s over the worst now. His road to full recovery is bright, please don’t worry too much, madam,” The lady nodded her head.

Seungkwan tried to smile to the lady, but his mind was thinking about one thing only.

He needed to find Joshua. Quickly.

He only had 14 months and 14 days from now until the promise. He’ll meet the older guys again, at the promised time, 14 months and 14 days from now, at the promised place.

Which was…?

Seungkwan curled his hands into fists, closed his eyes tightly. He couldn’t recall.

_Where?_

* * *

 

Joshua realised he was a florist the moment he opened his eyes, because he fell asleep in the middle of his flower shop. An assistant was peering over him in worry and he gave him an easy grin.

“I’m fine.” He said.

“Boss, you just snored super loudly and scared a customer away. No matter how tired you are, you can’t sleep here when you’re supposed to close it up!” The assistant whined and Joshua sighed as he got to his two feet.

With a lazy smirk, he placed his hands on the assistant’s shoulders and sighed deeply.

“I get it. I won’t do it again. Okay? Okay.” Joshua chuckled as he let go of the assistant’s shoulders.

Quickly, Joshua opened the door to his office on the back of the shop, the first door that he saw when he opened his eyes. He breathed out slowly as he pulled the receiver off the phone, _the_ phone and dialled 1004.

The ringing was a little annoying, especially since he saw sure Jeonghan was having fun with Jihoon and not even bothering to pick up. “Han….” He grumbled as the ringing didn’t cease.

Excitement started to turn to annoyance.

Before long, annoyance turned to worry.

Joshua asked the assistant to walk him home, though it was a weird request. He didn’t know where his house was after all. But even as he opened the door to a cramped yet cosy apartment of one, he wondered why Jeonghan didn’t pick up the phone.

_Did something happened?_

_Did he accidentally left behind the phone during the switch?_

_Why didn’t he call?_

* * *

 

_**14 months 14 days later.** _

3 hours left. Only 3 hours left until the next switch.

Seungkwan couldn’t understand why Joshua hadn’t find him yet. It had been almost his whole lifetime here. It worried him to no ends that Joshua was not there, by his side. His family had called it PTSD, how anxious and jumpy he was. He wasn’t. He was just…scared. The new world was all happy family and trying his hardest to swallow a concoction of pills and physical therapy day by day. He needed Joshua, to remind him that his life could go beyond this. Beyond the gray walls of his bedroom where he sat, wasting hours of his day.

He had been in a car accident before the switch.

Sometimes, he asked his mother or father to bring him there, where his car was stranded. He would sit on the driver’s seat, with mom or dad watching warily a few feet away. He would wonder where to go and what road to take. He remembered pretty Seoul, a place that didn’t exist here. He remembered people who he had met and called his family, people who didn’t exist here. If he wanted to, if he knew where they were, if they were here at all, he could’ve go to them.

But no.

He didn’t know. He didn’t know if Joshua had followed him into this universe or not. He didn’t know where the older guy was. He couldn’t even remember the place he needed to go after the next switch. He just remembered the warmth of the people he called his brothers. Sometimes it was enough to keep him hopeful.

Most of the times it was just enough for him to not give up.

* * *

 

It was really effortless.

Crowned as the top student of his school was hard work but falling down to the bottom was effortless. Mom and dad didn’t believe that their smart son, Dokyeom became the school’s kindest and most lovable student, just as much as they couldn’t believe he flunked his tests.

It wasn’t Dokyeom’s fault. Okay, maybe it was. But he couldn’t help going to the tennis courts. He remembered the court, the one in Seoul clearly. He remembered the greenness of the grass surrounding it, the grey floor and that piano glued to it. He remembered it all but nothing of the promise they made. If it even existed. Being alone made him doubt the things he was supposed to be sure of.

The only thing he was sure of was that he needed his little family more than he ever needed anything.

Seungkwan, who he felt a need to protect. Jeonghan, who told him his worries and troubles after all the others had fallen asleep. Joshua, who could be as wise or as silly as he wished to be. Jihoon, whose laughter always made him felt a certain sense of warmth.

In a few hours, the next switch will happen.

By that time, he needed to figure out what that promise was.

Or he could lose the _only_ family he had ever known.

* * *

 

Joshua had stopped going to the flower shop. Or sending out flyers about his ring. Or going to the police in hope for some information on a Seungkwan. He had stopped doing all that for a year now, and he didn’t think anything would’ve changed if he didn’t stop.

He entered a different world than Seungkwan, after all.

Joshua didn’t understand what happened, during the last switch, where everything went haywire. The memory of that incident was foggy. All he remembered was a baby blue door that Seungkwan went into and the light pink one he was pushed into during the havoc. It could’ve been wrong; his memory had failed him before, but something about it just seemed too…coincidental.

He couldn’t find Seungkwan in fourteen months when he had found him under six days in the last two worlds. He had found Seungkwan through his phone after all. He only had to dial 266 and Seungkwan would pick up the phone, whatever phone it was, and tell him where he was.

It wasn’t even as if telephones didn’t exist in this world. But every time Joshua dialled that, or 1004, nothing came through. As if they were somewhere far beyond where he could reach. As if it wasn’t that they wouldn’t answer, it was just that they couldn’t.

But Joshua waited. Because he remembered what Han had said about him. If there was anything about Joshua, it was that he was patient.

~~But even then, he felt tired too.~~

* * *

Jihoon grew tired of these balls. Of course they were held for his birthdays, a cold reminder of the switch in a few hours. He looked down to his feet. He had a bacterial infection and it was near fatal. But he survived though because he was bed-ridden for too long, the nerves on his legs had considered themselves useless. He tried his best, with the help of the most elite professionals the Lee family’s young master could find and even then, it took him a whole year to finally walk with the help of a stick.

He wasted the few months left of his life in this world, trying to fix his compass, hiring old, grey-haired compass-makers to fix it but nothing they did could make it work again. It would work normally but Jihoon didn’t need a normal compass. It wouldn’t lead him to the place he needed to be.

But he was hopeful the compass could work.

_Why?_

Because sometimes, the compass would point somewhere that wasn’t North and Jihoon would hurry away to follow its guide. But then, it would change course and it always ended up with Jihoon heading North for the umpteenth time or he found himself back in this mansion, wary of people’s eyes towards him as he sipped champagne on the second floor balcony.

He wasn’t going to lose hope. The compass will point him to the right direction and he will follow. Even if the compass failed him, he’ll continue on. It was trying to bring him somewhere, though it wasn’t where Jeonghan was. It was bringing Jihoon to something he wanted.

At least he was sure of that.

* * *

 

Jeonghan stopped mid-song.

_Again._

These days, playing Jihoon’s songs became hard, he kept on forgetting the notes he had been playing for years, as if someone was trying to pull the melody and the rhythm of his head. So he opened his notebook, and scribbled yet another reminder. Beside the one he had put in yesterday. The song was called Pinwheel, and Jihoon promised to let him help in writing lyrics when they came home.

Home, to Jeonghan.

It had been 14 months since he started waiting for Jihoon. Since his phone disappeared into thin air and so did the only connection he had with Joshua and Seungkwan. He had been through switches with Joshua for too long that he forgot what it felt like to be in this world; completely alone. With no one knowing the real him or could give him the assurance they would still be there when he open his eyes tomorrow. These days, one single thought kept resurfacing on his mind no matter how much he disliked it….

The thought of forgetting them.

Jeonghan didn’t want to do that. To forget. So he tried his best, writing everything he remembered about the people he was waiting for. It was only abfew measly hours to the next switch; he wouldn’t give up so easily. Not when he had been playing Jihoon’s songs for so long, waiting for them for so long. So he opened his notebook, and he scribbled ‘cat-like eyes’ on it, before he stopped.

Whom did those eyes belonged to?

Jeonghan placed his head tiredly on the piano keys, ignoring the sudden loud sound that echoed from it. He scratched in the five names a few weeks ago when he started struggling to remember them. He had a picture of them all, hung proudly on his house’s wall, but he couldn’t tell who was who. He remembered himself, of course. And of his closest friend, Joshua. Of the musical genius, Jihoon. Of the little sunshine, Dokyeom. Of the heavenly voice, Seungkwan.

But some days; bad days….he forgot that Jihoon didn’t like to wake up early. Or that Kwannie doesn’t eat cucumbers. Joshua loved playing a musical instrument that he didn’t remember what. Who was it again that shared his bedroom before they all got separated? So on the rare good days when he remembered Shua’s lazy grin as vivid as the sunshine streaming past the curtains of his bedroom, he jotted it all down. Like a crazy person, Han was only trying to retain as much of them as he could. Before he forgot them all.

If only they didn’t leave him alone here….

~~He would’ve been fine.~~

* * *

 

An hour away from the next switch and Han couldn’t sleep. This was the last chance. The moment he had been waiting for 29 months. They must come to him, now. Or he might just went crazy from all this tireless waiting, trying his best to remember when all the world wanted to help him do was to forget. Jeonghan re-read the entries of his journal, of his friends and family from all the worlds he had went through. How on the day he had met Jihoon, Seungkwan and Dokyeom with Shua by his side, he had written the first entry with the word love. A word he was so scared of; one he never used when he wrote about those passing figures on his life.

_I love these people. They might be my one family. This could be my home._

Jeonghan groaned, pulling his sheets over his head in a vain attempt to stop his mind from wandering off to the worst possible scenario of what could happen on the next switch. That noise and the annoying voice at the back of his mind was starting to die down finally, when he heard a knock. On his door. He looked at the digital clock on his side table. 20 minutes more. He couldn’t risk this.

So Jeonghan closed his eyes and tried to ignore the persistent knocking on his door. He stared at the pristine white ceiling, lit only by the streetlamp in front of the house. By this time tomorrow, he’ll have all the people he loved by his side.

It was a little sad that the last time he had that thought was during the last switch, when his childish excitement couldn’t be curbed by anything. Now…his excitement was just worry. Worrying that they wouldn’t be here. And he would have to keep waiting. Also fear. Fear that by time, he’ll forget them,and he won’t recognise them even as they stood in front of him.

Jeonghan took another glance. 11:59:53

54

55

56

57

58

59

**00:00:00**

He closed his eyes, to the sound of that knocking.

* * *

Dokyeom opened his eyes. His fifth switch. He looked around and wondered helplessly to no one at all…

Why was there only one door? Jeonghan and Joshua had told him differently, that there were an infinite number of doors and windows, each opened to him, for him to choose. So why was there only one door, in front of him, and no one beside him?

Dokyeom was naïve. Something about the whole situation alarmed him but maybe this had something to do with that promise he couldn’t remember. Maybe his mind had somehow remembered the promise and offered the solution. Maybe this was what he was meant to do. So Kyeom stepped tentatively towards the door and closing his eyes tightly, he crossed through.

When Dokyeom opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground of a tennis court. The very one he laid on when the clock struck 12.

* * *

 

That knocking, Jeonghan thought spitefully when he had calmed down from his rage.

He had always have a lot of anger, and his bedroom had seen the worst of that. It saw that part of him tonight, when Jeonghan had to cross through that sickeningly golden door again, because there was no other door for him. It was frightening him to the core; the fact that he was stripped away from making a choice on which world to live in. But anger surpassed that fear by miles. Because if he could only stay in this world, the others must be stuck in their own worlds too.

They would not be here, or waiting at the court for him tomorrow. They wouldn’t greet him with wide grins when he woke up, because they weren’t here. He had already waited 17 months for them. Months. Each with foggy, lingering memories of their days in the sun. It might be easier for him to forget, but he wouldn’t do that. Never. He had vowed that before but now, waking up after 29 months with only a dim hope of ever being in the same universe as them…Jeonghan could be forgiven for considering the less painful way to live out the rest of his days.

Again, that unceasing knocking on the door. Jeonghan’s eyes flashed bitterly to the door, and his hand threw the vase he was holding in his hands. PRANGG! He closed his eyes to the loud noise and the pieces of pottery laid broken on the floor. He didn’t care about the vase. Somehow, he found himself caring less and less by the seconds. The knocking stopped. For a moment. And then it was back, muttering dull thuds against the silence of the night. Jeonghan groaned loudly and made his way towards the door, side-stepping the broken vase. He pulled open the door and looked up to see a man clad in black, with a hoodie over his head. For a second there, his heart jumped hopefully.

But no.

It wasn’t one of them.

The figure looked up to him, and pulled off his hoodie.

“Hey, Hannie. Can we talk?”

“Ch…Cheol.”

* * *

 

Jeonghan eyed the other man warily. He hadn’t met Choi Seungcheol since the boy broke the promise that they made. Jeonghan and Seungcheol met in a universe where Han was constantly harassed by his mother’s…boyfriends. Seungcheol was being prepared to be the future king of their country. Neither of them liked where their lives were heading, and the thought of trying their luck with other universes was… tempting to say the least. So they made a promise, to enter the same door to another universe.

A promise that Seungcheol broke and left Jeonghan alone, on his own devices. It had been so long since they last met; so long, that Jeonghan couldn’t stop that thought in his head.

 _I thought you would have found my substitute,_ he thought bitterly.

“It’s a nice house.” Seungcheol commented awkwardly when moments passed by with nothing but silence between them.

“Why are you here?” Jeonghan asked with his arms crossed in front of his body. Cheol winced at his tone and stopped looking around the barren walls.

“I…I need your help.” Seungcheol said softly. Jeonghan raised an eyebrow sceptically at his request and the grown man (no longer the boy Jeonghan had remembered him as) sighed deeply.

“My brother, he’s on the other side….he’s the reason the switch is not happening.” Seungcheol muttered. Jeonghan’s eyes widened instantly and his heart started beating fast.

“You have a brother?” He didn’t know that. He thought he knew everything. Cheol smirked cynically at Jeonghan’s disbelieving tone and carded his fingers through his hair.

“He’s the reason I stayed. My mom told me I’ll have a little brother just before the switch. And…I don’t want that kid to go through what I had to. I have an escape. That kid doesn’t. So I decided to stay. I could make things better for him and I did. I made his life in that suffocating castle a little more livable. And I couldn’t tell you. I’m sorry. About that. It was cruel of me.” Seungcheol confessed hesitantly.

“So…you have an actual family.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I do. I just need to get my brother back.” Jeonghan sighed heavily.

“What’s his name?”

“Hansol. He,” Seungcheol sighed, closing his eyes in regret.

“He got through with one of the diamond keys that I found. During the switch, he found the key and tried to open this locked door in the castle. But he opened the door to that place. The choosing place. And the moment he got through, the place falls apart. That’s why I need your help. We need to go to that place and get my brother. He doesn’t belong there. He’s not supposed to be there. His place…his place is with his family, our, our family. Please. Please help me get him back.” Seungcheol pleaded to the ears of a man he once called his best friend.

He wasn’t sure what Jeonghan thought of him as now. Pathetic, maybe.

“Why do you need me?” Jeonghan asked in a low voice and Cheol took out two keys, gleaming and shimmering even under the dim light of Jeonghan’s living room.

“One person can only use the key once. If I use it to get in, I can’t get out. That’s why I need you. Hannie, please. You’re my only hope.” Seungcheol pleaded. Jeonghan stayed silent and Seungcheol’s eyes darkened.

“Don’t you tend to forget stuff these days?” Seungcheol asked. Jeonghan’s head jerked up and he looked at the other man in surprise.

“I think we’ll all disappear soon if Hansol stays there. The balance of the universes is threatened. We’ll all die soon…if it means restoring the balance.” Cheol strangled out, as if the very idea of his words was fear itself. Jeonghan remembered his phone, gone now, and the memories of his little family, fading away slowly day by day.

_Was it true? Will they all…die?_

~~Dying is better than loneliness anyway.~~

“Okay. I’ll go with you.”

* * *

 

“Here goes nothing.” Jeonghan breathed out as he turned the diamond key on his bedroom’s doorknob. He pushed it open and out poured blinding light as if he had opened the door to sun itself.

Seungcheol was right behind him and Jeonghan stepped into the light, closing his eyes tightly. “Cheol.” His voice came out a whisper as soon as he opened his eyes.

There, in front of them, in the blinding whiteness was a teen boy, hugging his knees to his chest. Pushing Jeonghan aside, Seungcheol quickly ran to the lonely boy. “HANSOL!” He shouted loudly. The boy looked up with wet eyes, cheeks with tear streaks but his mouth was pulled into a genuine smile as he realised the figure that was heading his way. Seungcheol pulled him into a bone-crushing hug and the boy cried into his arms.

“Hyung….hyung…” Hansol muttered in between sobs. Seungcheol patted him slowly, convincing him with his soft whispers and warm hug. “It’s okay. Hyung will take you home. Everything’s fine.” Hansol snuggled closer to Cheol when he sensed that another person was moving towards them.

“Hi Hansol. I’m a friend of your hyung.” Jeonghan said softly. The kid looked not a day over 15 but in those eyes he could see the matureness he never saw in his own. Or maybe it was because he avoided looking at mirrors these days.

“Hi.” He replied curtly. Jeonghan gave him a wide smile as Cheol started to let go of the other boy.

“Let’s go home.” Seungcheol said as he pulled Hansol to his feet.

With hesitant steps, Hansol followed his brother’s lead with Jeonghan close behind. Seungcheol turned around and stared at Jeonghan. “We don’t know if this would work.” He said. Jeonghan shrugged and replied, “I don’t want to be in another universe when the kids come around.” Seungcheol nodded his head and took his place in front of a wooden old door, with Hansol holding his hand tightly.

Jeonghan took his place in front of the golden door. With a nod, Seungcheol twisted his final key into the doorknob and Jeonghan pushed himself forward into the door he came from. He prayed this would work. He wanted this to work, but he could feel a cold and invisible barrier blocking his path. He looked to his side and just as Seungcheol himself stepped into his door, the barrier in front of Jeonghan disappeared and he fell forward.

Jeonghan fell down. Down, down and below, for enough time that fear started to travel throughout his body.

* * *

>  
> 
> Jeonghan remembered the notes that he was taught.
> 
> On this lonely instrument, awkwardly in a court,
> 
> Played it every morning with a slow hum, hoping he’ll remember.
> 
> He desperately needed to repeat them tomorrow.
> 
> He couldn’t forget them.
> 
> He won’t.
> 
> Sometimes he wondered…
> 
> Was it the notes he was struggling to remember?
> 
> Or the people he was waiting for?

* * *

 

> Joshua was always there, by the phone.
> 
> Waiting.
> 
> It was his way of saying he still trusted them.
> 
> Even though they never call him
> 
> Well, his heart jolted hopefully,
> 
> Not yet.
> 
> So he kept by the phone.
> 
> Though it never rang.
> 
> Again, his heart jolted hopefully.
> 
> Not yet.
> 
> The phone will ring, one day.
> 
> On his best days, he wore the maroon sweater.
> 
> On his worst, he tried not to throw the phone to a wall.

* * *

> Jihoon couldn’t find the way.
> 
> The way to where they were waiting.
> 
> The only way that mattered.
> 
> To go towards them, he needed directions.
> 
> But he was lost, hopelessly.
> 
> So he kept searching.
> 
> And sometimes he came back to where he started
> 
> But that was fine.
> 
> Because he went that road and this road.
> 
> He only needed to go….
> 
> Which way again?

* * *

> Seungkwan had everything he needed.
> 
> The car, the road stretched in front of him.
> 
> He could go to where they were waiting for him.
> 
> He would.
> 
> He would go, if he only knew where they were.
> 
> So again, with his head against the steering wheel
> 
> He sighed.
> 
> Why couldn’t he remember?
> 
> The promise
> 
> Where did they promised to go?

* * *

> Dokyeom was tracing his steps again.
> 
> Always.
> 
> People looked at him weird and sometimes they asked,
> 
> Wasn’t it cold?
> 
> But what’s colder than living alone?
> 
> Smiling and having no one smile back?
> 
> So he traced his steps because he remembered
> 
> Sometimes vaguely.
> 
> They promised here.
> 
> Though he couldn’t remember the promise.
> 
> He will one day, if he traced his steps in this court,
> 
> If he tried hard enough.

* * *

 

Jeonghan opened his eyes to pitch black darkness. But he could smell the faint scent of his air freshener and the blinking lights of his digital clock. It read 11:57:56. Jeonghan took a double take when he saw the date. 05/25/15. That was the day before they promised to meet. That was the date before he met Seungcheol. Why….why was he back to this moment?

Jeonghan switched open the lights in a flurry and looked first, at the picture of five of them. He realised in a blink of an eye that he remembered them all. All their days and memories under the sun. All their nights and shared confessions. All the worlds he had gone through with Joshua. All the songs he had made with Jihoon. All the concern he told to Dokyeom. All the laughter he responded to Seungkwan. He remembered them all, with almost damning clarity and a smile came up his lips.

_He remembered and so would them._

So Jeonghan settled back under his blankets, with a wide unassuming grin on his face and closed his eyes. The clock read 11:59:58.

59

**00:00:00**

* * *

 

They saw Jeonghan, with his blonde hair, rushing and running through the crowd to get to the golden door. The boy turned around and scanned the crowd frantically for his other four, each looking as lost and worried as the other. Unabashed, Jeonghan shouted their names and with that huge, loud laughter, he called them out.

“COME HERE!! This is our world! Ours. Ours.” Jeonghan whispered the last word to himself and turned his back to the others, who ran for him.

Jeonghan took a huge breath and stepped forward. He didn’t fall. He didn’t need to.

Jihoon let the compass slipped through his fingers and onto the ground without a care. He didn’t need the compass anymore. He knew where to go. He knew the way, and he ran. Because a second more without knowing his family was alright and complete, felt like hell.

 Dokyeom woke up on a different court and he didn’t need to trace his steps anymore. He was carving new ones, as he ran towards his family, with a grin stretched across his face. The promise was as clear as if they made it yesterday.

Joshua left the phone on the ground. He didn’t need it where he was heading. He didn’t need to find anyone anymore, or wait for someone to pick up the phone. He knew they’ll answer now, because they would be right beside him.

Seungkwan twisted the keys of the car, and it stuttered to life. He’ll go there. He knew the place now, knew it like the back of his hand. Saw it vividly on the back of his mind. He didn’t need to try anymore, it was in his mind, as if it had been there since the day he was born.

Jeonghan knew something was different. Knew it. From the way his hear was drumming excitedly and his fingers were itching for piano keys below them, he knew it was the day. The day that he had waited for 29 months. Jeonghan ran out of his room and out of his house, hastily putting the white sweater Shua insisted on 29 months ago and sat in front of the piano.

With trembling breath, he played the song.

_Pinwheel._


End file.
